WINNER: LeBron James

LeBron James had a wasted first season in Los Angeles. He suffered the first serious injury of his career and missed many games as a result. His injury, and other factors, led to the Lakers missing the playoffs (ending James' 13-year postseason appearance streak). Davis' arrival finally gives James a second superstar on the Lakers, and the transaction already has made L.A. the 2020 NBA title favorites among oddsmakers. James probably has two or three more years remaining of his prime, and getting a young superstar in the fold gives the Lakers a great opportunity to maximize what's left of the legendary forward's current contract.

LOSER: Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics reportedly had interest in acquiring Davis for years, but his reported unwillingness to re-sign in Boston when he can become an unrestricted free agent in 2020 made pulling off a huge trade too much of a risk for Boston. The Celtics couldn't afford to gamble and lose Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum and Davis all in a 12-month span. The Celtics are now left without a true superstar (assuming Irving leaves in July as a UFA) and they're not a real contender for a championship in 2020. It's not a horrible situation for the C's, but the future looks a lot less bright than it did back in October.

WINNER: Anthony Davis

Davis, through his agent, Rich Paul, requested a trade in January and one of his preferred destinations was the Lakers. His move to Los Angeles puts him in a major market, which helps his marketability off the court, and it gives him a chance to play deep in the playoffs for the first time in his career. It's a win-win trade from Davis' perspective.

LOSER: The Ball family

Remember when LaVar Ball said he wanted his three sons to all play for the Lakers? Well, now none of his sons play in L.A., and it's unlikely that changes anytime soon. Lonzo Ball was supposed to be a franchise cornerstone player for the Lakers when they drafted him No. 2 overall in 2017 from nearby UCLA. Ball played well as a pass-first point guard in his first two seasons, but injuries limited his availability, particularly this past year. He still has a lot of upside, but his dream of being a Lakers legend is over.

WINNER: New Orleans Pelicans

The history of the NBA shows that in superstar trades, the team acquiring the best player in the package almost always wins out, but the Pelicans received more quality assets for a star than any of the previous clubs dealing away a player of Davis' caliber. They received three good young players in Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart, plus an enormous haul of trade assets including multiple unprotected first-round picks and draft swaps, highlighted by the No. 4 overall selection in 2019. New Orleans now has a talented core of Jrue Holliday and the three Lakers acquisitions, plus likely No. 1 pick Zion Williamson and whatever the No. 4 pick turns into (a rookie or an established veteran as part of another trade). The Pelicans have a legitimate chance to make the playoffs next season as a result of this trade. They got player/draft assets to help in the short term and draft capital to help long term.

David Griffin did a tremendous job in his first major trade running the Pelicans' front office.

LOSER: New York Knicks

The New York Knicks were supposed to have the best summer in franchise history. After all, many reports over the last few months suggested a Kevin Durant/Kyrie Irving free-agent coup was a real possibility for New York. Not only is Durant likely out for all of next season after suffering a ruptured Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals, reports indicate Irving is "prepared to sign" with the Knicks' crosstown rival, the Brooklyn Nets.

Durant could still go to the Knicks as a free agent this summer, but who is he going to play with when he's healthy enough to return? The Knicks were rumored to be interested in Davis, but now he's off the table. Do the Knicks try to sign someone like Kemba Walker or Jimmy Butler?

Instead of a triumphant July, more misery could be in store for Knicks fans.

WINNER: Lakers

Yes, it's possible for both teams to win this trade. Sure, the risk on the back end of this trade could be huge for the Lakers given the abundance of unprotected draft picks and swaps sent to the Pelicans, but this was a move L.A. had to make. The Lakers couldn't afford to waste another year of James' prime, and their assets probably weren't going to get any more attractive over the summer. Filling out the rest of the roster will be difficult since it's unlikely the Lakers will have enough salary cap space to sign a max-level free agent this summer, but they can offer some of the second- and third-tier free agents a chance to win a championship, and maybe some of these players give L.A. a discount to pursue that dream. Injuries to Golden State Warriors stars Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson also make the Western Conference wide open in 2019-20, so you really can't fault any team, including the Purple and Gold, for making bold moves to win in the short term.

LOSER: Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers surpassed expectations in 2018-19 by earning a playoff spot with a scrappy, hard-working team of underrated veterans and talented young players. The next step for the Clippers is to cash in some of their assets, both in terms of trade chips and salary cap space, to add a superstar or two and become a legitimate title contender. Toronto Raptors superstar forward Kawhi Leonard, fresh off an NBA championship, has been linked to the Clippers in free-agent rumors throughout the season. But if the Clippers don't acquire Leonard, they will again be the clear No. 2 in terms of fan interest and talent level among the two basketball teams in Los Angeles.

Winner: Rich Paul

Anthony Davis' agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, is a huge winner in this trade. Did he make himself look bad with some of the tactics used to pull off a Davis-to-L.A. deal? Yes, he probably did, but sometimes the end justifies the means, and the overall goal of getting his other client and longtime friend LeBron James a superstar teammate on the Lakers ultimately was achieved.

LOSER: Other Western Conference contenders

The Warriors' injuries gave a glimmer of hope to fans of the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets and others that winning a championship in 2020 was a realistic goal. This optimism was short-lived, however, because now the Lakers are the clear favorites to win the West and return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. There are still a lot of moves to be made by the other contenders in the West before October, but the challenge of building a team better than the Lakers just became much tougher.

Winner: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown

The Celtics' best young players, forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, now figure to be part of the team's core for the foreseeable future. Both players had been involved in trade rumors for Davis over the last year or so, but now a trade, particularly in Tatum' case, seems unlikely at this point.

Tatum and Brown helped lead the C's to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018. and they did so without injured stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. Tatum and Brown thrived as the focal points of the offense, especially in pressure-packed moments, and with Irving potentially leaving, these rising stars will have bigger roles in Boston's offense in 2019-20, and that should be enough for them to take huge steps forward in their development.